Of Comic Books and Crushes
by shiki94
Summary: April Mendez is one of the shyest people you could ever meet. She doesn't have many friends and she's always seen either reading poetry or writing. Phil Brooks is a rebel student who's trying his best to pass his classes, all while having good times with his friends. When the worlds of these two teens collide over something like comic books, how will it affect them?
1. Life with Routines

**Ok, so I'm starting up a new story even though I've got four more that are in progress...but, I was way too excited to just let this story gather dust on my flash drive and my muses get lazy.**

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters used in this story. I only own the idea and my OC Alex. That being said, on to the story. =)**

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The screeching of an alarm clock woke April Mendez out of her sleep for the night to let her know that she had to get out of bed to start another week of school. April didn't mind going to school; in fact, she actually looked forward to every day that she had to go. But, then again, it seemed better to go to school and be surrounded by hundreds of other students than to be in a big house by herself all the time. Finally managing to roll out of bed and putting on her glasses, April went to her closet and got out a fresh uniform. Her school's uniforms weren't that bad, but the uniforms were something that got numerous complaints from a majority of the student body. April, on the other hand, never thought that they were bad; she, along with all of the other girls at school, were required to wear button-down polo shirts and plaid skirts, with their choice of shoes. After April got her uniform and her favorite pair of high-top black Converses out of her closet, she proceeded to go take a shower, get dressed, and do her hair before heading downstairs with her backpack in hand.

Once downstairs, April made her way to the kitchen only to find that her parents hadn't left for work yet. April's parents had very demanding jobs; her mom was one of the top lawyers in Union City and her dad was one of the leading surgeons in the whole state of New Jersey. While her parents' jobs earned them high paychecks that kept them in the lap of luxury, April secretly hated her parent's jobs because their work hours were long and they were hardly ever at home with her. However, when they were at home, things always seemed very stiff and quiet, mostly due in part to the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Mendez always made sure to keep a bit of a tight rein on April to make sure that she wouldn't get into any kind of trouble.

"Good morning, mom. Good morning, dad," April said, as she moved to grab an apple to eat on her way to school.

"Good morning, April. Did you sleep well?" Mrs. Mendez asked.

"Yes, I did, mom. And now, I'm headed out for school. You two have good days at work," April said, making her way to the door.

"April, wait," Mr. Mendez said, looking up from his newspaper.

Stopping with her hand on the doorknob, April turned around and asked "Yes, dad. What is it?"

"Like your mother and I always tell you, have a good day at school and be careful. Also, when you get home, remember to do all of your homework before you do anything else," Mr. Mendez said.

"I promise. Now, I'm off to school. Hopefully, I won't be late," April said, leaving her house and closing the door behind her.

Once April was out of her house, she heaved a sigh as she took a bite of her apple and began her walk to school. Every morning, she'd have the same talk or a talk very similar to it with her parents before leaving for school. Even at school, she had to deal with a monotonous routine of going to her classes, having lunch, and heading home at the end of the day. Sometimes, April wished she could put a stop to her dull routine, but sadly, she had no idea how to even begin to do so. Instead of mulling over her own personal dilemma, April continued her walk to school as she tossed the core of her apple into a nearby trashcan.

Arriving at school, April made an immediate break for the school building. She always made sure to arrive at school before most of the other students started coming to school because she needed the time to think and be to herself. Following her usual route, April went to the library where she set her backpack on an empty table before walking around and taking a look at the bookshelves. She had made her way to the poetry books when she started to get a feeling that she was being followed. Turning around, April saw that it was one of the only people that she really considered to be a friend, Josh Matthews.

"Hey, Josh. You here for an early morning too?" April asked, as she glanced at the spines of the books.

"Hey, April. Yeah, I am. I just had to get away from home as soon as I could before my mom and dad tried to give me an early morning lecture about being as safe as I could be while I was at school," Josh said, meekly.

"Ugh. Trust me, my parents already gave me a bit of a speech like that this morning. I decided to just peel out before the speech could get dragged out any longer than it needed to be," April said, pulling out a copy of 'The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe'.

"Haha. I guess that's one of the downsides of being children of some of the richest people in the city," Josh said, adjusting his glasses.

"There's that and the fact that we've got to always act a certain way when we're in public," April said, taking the book back to the table where she left her backpack.

"At least when we're here, we at least have some kind of freedom to be ourselves," Josh said, smiling nervously.

"Yeah, I guess so," April said, a distant tone in her voice. As she handed the book over to the librarian to get it checked out, April thought back to the talk she and Josh just had. Josh may not have realized it, but April really didn't have much in the way of a personality aside from who she was when she was at home. It was easier for Josh to say those things because he at least made a considered effort to socialize with some of the other kids in their classes, not to mention, he had been trying to find a potential girlfriend. April, on the other hand, always felt held back by her inhibitions and didn't do much in the way of trying to make friends with the other kids in their classes. Taking the book, April turned to Josh and said "Come on, Josh. Let's head on to Mr. Cole's class." As the two friends walked to their first class of the day in silence, April couldn't help but feel that her day might not go exactly the day she wanted it to. All she could do was hope that nothing too out of the ordinary would happen.

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**So, it may seem like the story's off to a bit of a weird start, but I've the next two chapters typed up and ready to post.**


	2. A Punk with a Goal

"Phil! Come on, Phil! Wake up in there or else we're going to be late!" a voice yelled as they pounded on the door to the bedroom of Phil Brooks. Phil was what you would call a determined slacker. He had goals for what he wanted to do with his life, but mostly, he tended to slack off a bit with mostly everything he did. That never stopped him from doing what he decided to put his mind to. As he rolled over in his bed, Phil looked at his alarm clock, only to see that he had a little more than 30 minutes to get ready for school. Groaning, Phil got out of bed and went over to his dresser to pick out a fresh uniform. Uniforms weren't exactly his favorite part of school because he felt stifled as he had to wear an outfit that was exactly the same as every other male student's outfit. Getting over his internal gripes, Phil donned his uniform and put on his black-and-white checkered Vans shoes.

Hearing the same yelling and pounding on his door, Phil yelled "I'm up, I'm up! Just give me a minute to put in my lip ring and brush my hair back."

"We've got about five minutes before we have to leave for school, Phil. Please try to get a move on in there," the same voice said.

Groaning, Phil went back to finishing his morning routine before grabbing his cell phone and backpack. Once he made sure he had everything, Phil headed downstairs into the kitchen where he was greeted with the sight of his mom watching the morning news, as well as two of his closest friends, Colt Cabana and Amy Dumas helping themselves to some of the food his mom made for breakfast. Heading into the kitchen, Phil said "Morning, mom. Morning, Colt. Morning, Ames," as he grabbed a piece of toast and proceeded to eat it with big bites.

"Good morning, dear. How did you sleep last night?" Ms. Brooks asked, planting a kiss on her son's cheek.

"I slept pretty well. I think I broke my record of hours I've slept in a night. Managed to hit a full seven last night," Phil said, grabbing for another slice of toast.

Around a mouthful of eggs, Colt said "That's cool, man. Seems like you're starting to kick your insomnia's ass."

Playfully smacking Colt upside the head, Amy laughed and said "Colt! Watch your language!"

Laughing at the two, Ms. Brooks said "Oh, Amy. No need to be so tough on Colt for that little slip. It tends to happen with Phil all the time."

"That's only because I choose to exercise my freedom of speech, momma dear," Phil said, finishing his third piece of toast.

"Either way, just make sure you watch your mouth. The last thing we want to have happen is that you get so ticked at somebody that you curse at them like you're trying to put a pirate to shame," Amy said, rising from the table and grabbing her backpack. "Now, come on you two. We'd better get a move on if we don't want to be late."

"Right. Bye, mom. I'll see you when I come in from school," Phil said, kissing his mom on the cheek.

"Bye, you three. Have a good day at school. Try not to get into too much trouble today," Ms. Brooks yelled after the three teens.

Once Phil, Amy, and Colt were out of Phil's house, they walked as fast as they could to school to avoid being counted tardy for their first class.

"So, Phil, did you get all of your homework done for Rob's class?" Colt asked.

"I got most of it done. If anything, I'll probably work on finishing the rest during free period," Phil said.

"I thought you were working on it last night when I called you," Amy said.

"I was working on it, but those new sleeping pills my doctor put me on had me feeling wiped. Then, the next thing I know, I'm falling forward and faceplanting onto my computer desk. It took my mom coming into my room to help me into bed before I was too deeply asleep," Phil said.

"At least it seems like the pills are doing their job. That's all that matters for now," Amy said. As Amy finished her sentence, the trio made it to school with just fifteen minutes to spare. Seeing as how they were early, they decided to look around the campus to see if any of their other friends had arrived yet. They were about to give up their search when Phil heard a voice from behind him calling out to them.

"Phil! Amy! Colt! Over here!" the voice yelled.

Turning around, the trio saw their usual group of friends all gathered in the quad area in front of the school. It was no secret that Amy, Colt, and Phil were a pretty odd trio of students, but the other students that made up their own group at school helped compliment their own oddness in their own ways. Some of the other students that helped make up their clique were Matt, Jeff, and Alex Hardy, Trish Stratus, Melina Perez, John Morrison, Ashley Massaro, Maria Kanellis, Candice Beckman, Chris Irvine, Mickie James, Evan Bourne, Derrick Bateman, Zack Ryder, and Kaitlyn Bonin. They had all known each other for years and because they had all grown so close to each other, it seemed almost like they had become their own little family while they were at school.

"Morning everyone," Amy said, as she, Phil, and Colt joined their friends before classes started.

"Morning to you too, Ames. Hey, Phil. You look well rested for once. Your meds help you sleep last night?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, they did. The only problem is that I clocked out before I could finish my Biology homework. I know Rob won't be so ticked, but I want to at least turn in a homework assignment on time," Phil said. "If I only I could count on one of my fellow freshmen to let me get the answers from them."

Sighing, Alex dug around in her backpack and, producing her homework, handed it to Phil and said "Here. You can get the answers from me. But, please, make sure that next time you wait to take your sleep aides _after _you've done your homework."

"I promise. You know I love you, right, Alex?" Punk asked, donning an innocent smile.

"Love is a strong emotion that shouldn't be tossed around so carelessly, Phillip," Alex said, sticking her tongue out as she said Phil's full name.

Rolling his eyes, Phil went to copying down the answers as fast as he could while Amy looked around the group as if she were taking attendance. "Hey, if I'm not mistaken, I think we're down three people. Where are Dustin, Ted, and Cody? Usually, they're here by now," Amy said, confused.

"Ted texted me this morning and said he wouldn't be able to make it to school today. He said he came down with a bit of a bad cold and he's staying home to tough it out," Kaitlyn said.

"Dustin's here. He just had to take off to go help Ms. Garcia print some stuff off for her classes and he had to go help Mr. Jarrett too," Alex said. "Cody's here, but he got stolen by that prick 'friend' of his, Damien."

"Ughh. I still don't quite get how it is that a kid as nice and funny as Cody could be friends with such a stick in the mud," Amy said.

"Your guess is as good as mine is, Ames. But, for Cody's sake, I put up with Damien, no matter how much he puts me down," Alex said, sighing. "Changing the topic here, so Phil, have you found a partner for the contest yet?"

Still copying Alex's answers, Phil said "No, not yet. I've been asking around, but I don't think anyone's all that interested in entering a contest like this."

"You'll find someone soon, I'm sure of it," Alex said, as the bell rang. "Now, come on. Let's hurry up and get to class before Mr. Cole decides to try to give me and you detention for nothing."

Standing, Phil fell into to step with the others in his group. Once inside the building, the group split off and went their separate ways with Phil, Alex, Kaitlyn, Zack, and Derrick heading for their first period class, which was World History with Mr. Cole. It may not have been apparent to most of the other students, but Phil had actually been held back in the ninth grade for two years because his grades were a little bad. This year he was determined to pass his classes and move on to the next grade because it was starting to become a bit of a pain to have to deal with some of his past teachers pointing him out as an example of what a 'bad student' was. At least with Alex and the others in his classes, he was starting to feel hopeful that this could be his year to pass and make his mom proud. Making it to class just before the bell rang, Phil and the other four took their seats as Mr. Cole made his way into the room.

"OK, students, pass your homework to the front of the rows and I'll collect it," Mr. Cole said, as he proceeded to write out the day's lesson plan on the board.

Digging around for his homework, Phil handed it forward to Zack as Mr. Cole went around the front of each row and collected the homework. Once he took the homework back to his desk, Mr. Cole launched into lecturing the class about the subject of the Black Plague. Yawning, Phil listened to the lecture with boredom clear on his face. He'd heard this lecture before and it got boring every time he had to hear it repeated. Instead of taking notes like the other students were, Phil flipped to a clean page of paper in his notebook and started a drawing. In his spare time, Phil could always be caught either drawing, playing video games, or reading comic books, three of the things that he loved to do more than anything else in the world. He wanted to find a way to apply his art skills to one of his other passions, so he got the idea that he could become a comic book artist. His gateway into doing so was the contest that he and Alex were talking about earlier in the morning; the contest was for rising artists and story writers to submit their own comic book and the rules of the contest stipulated that people could either enter in teams or by themselves and the submitted comic had to be at least ten pages long. The winner or winners would get a $1000 cash prize and the opportunity to have their comic book published and sold in stores around the country. When Phil heard about the contest, he wanted to enter, but the problem that he faced was not having someone to write the story that would go with his drawings. He still had time before the submission deadline for ideas, but he had already asked around most of the school with no luck of finding a partner yet. Hearing the ringing of the bell to end the period, Phil put his things in his backpack and left with Alex and the others.

"Man, I can't believe Mr. Cole's going to give us group assignments," Zack said.

"The group assignments aren't that bad, it just sucks that we won't get to pick who'll be in our groups," Derrick said.

"As long as Mr. Cole doesn't try to throw me in a group with Damien, I'll be fine," Alex said.

The group chatted on for a few more minutes before they split off and headed their separate ways, with Zack heading for Algebra, Derrick heading for Spanish, and Phil, Alex, and Kaitlyn heading for Biology. As the group of three walked on, Phil listened as Alex and Kaitlyn talked about the latest episode of Supernatural they had seen. While Phil listened to their conversation, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him stop.

Looking back to see that Phil had stopped, Kaitlyn asked "Phil? What's up?"

"Look," Phil said, pointing down the hallway. Walking back to join Phil, Alex and Kaitlyn looked to see what it was that Phil was talking about. What they saw was three of the school popular kids, Eve Torres, and Brie and Nikki Bella, surrounding a brunette girl. At first, the three were considering just turning and walking away, but when they saw Eve slap the other girl's books out of her hand and onto the floor, they knew that they had to do something.

**Now that I've introduced Punk into the story, stay tuned for what happens next. Don't forget to R&R please.**


	3. Saved and Found

April had just left Mr. Cole's class when she had gotten cornered by Eve Torres. She didn't know why, but Eve always seemed to single her out and tease her for completely no reason at all. But, April never really had much in the way of courage to tell anyone about her situation in fear of having a big deal be made about it.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little miss April," Eve said, as she walked up to April.

Meekly, April looked down and said "What do you want, Eve?"

"Just wondering why I didn't see you around this morning. It was a bit rude to keep me waiting around," Eve said.

"I wasn't late, Eve. I just had to do something else for another class," April said, ducking her head down.

"Excuses, excuses. Now, isn't there something that you have to give me?" Eve said, leaning forward into April's personal space.

Reaching into her History textbook, April pulled out what Eve was talking about. "Here, take it. Here's the essay you needed for Mr. Cornette's class," April said, handing Eve the essay she needed.

Taking the essay from April, Eve said "Pleasure doing business with you, runt. Next time, don't keep me waiting around." As Eve turned to leave with Brie and Nikki in tow, she turned around only to slap April's books out of her hands and onto the floor. "Let that be a gentle reminder not to make me wait for you."

As April dropped to the ground to pick up her books, Eve and the Bella Twins stood back and laughed until they heard a voice yell over to them. "Hey! What's going on over here?" Looking up, April saw that two other girls were approaching them. She knew who they were because they were in World History with her, but at the moment, she couldn't quite seem to remember what their names were.

Turning around, Eve said "This has nothing to do with you two, you little pipsqueaks. I was just having a simple talk with my little friend here."

One of the girls, who had two-toned black and blonde hair, said "It didn't look like a simple talk to us. It looked more like you were harassing this girl about something."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Brie and Nikki here can vouch for me and say that I wasn't doing anything to threaten this girl. Isn't that right, girls?" Eve asked, gaining two similar responses of 'yes' from the twins.

"Yeah, you weren't doing anything to harass this girl here. Then, tell us, why did you just slap her books out of her hands?" asked the other girl, who April noticed had blue and silver streaks dyed into her hair.

"I didn't do any such thing," Eve said, feigning innocence. "I was merely trying to help April here before she dropped her things."

"Look, Torres, we could stand here all day debating what happened over here, but we saw what you did. So, unless you want us to report you to Mrs. Carter, either apologize or leave," the two-toned girl said.

Not wanting to take a chance at getting reported to one of the vice principals, Eve muttered a quick apology April's way before she left with the Bella twins following closely behind her. Once the older girls were gone, April looked up at her saviors and meekly said "Thanks you two. That meant a lot to me that you both decided to help me out of that mess."

Turning around, both girls looked down at April. At first, neither of the girls said anything until the two-toned girl said "It's no big deal. We couldn't just stand idly around while someone was getting bullied."

"I just feel so relieved right now. I wish I could give you two a better thank you," April said.

"Oh, how terribly rude of us. Well, I guess introductions are in order. My name's Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn Bonin," said the two-toned girl.

"And I'm Alexis Hardy, but I'd like it if you call me Alex. It's just a nickname that I prefer people call me," said the girl with the blue and silver streaks in her hair. With a sudden flash of recognition, Alex snapped her fingers and said "Hey, I know your name."

Turning to look at Alex, Kaitlyn said "Really? You do?"

"Yeah, it's one of the names that girls have that's a month in the year. Uh, April, that's it. Her name's April," Alex said.

"April, huh? That's a pretty cute name," Kaitlyn said, smiling.

Blushing, April looked down and went back to gathering her books together. She was already feeling bad enough that these two girls saw her whole confrontation with Eve, but it made her feel a bit uncomfortable that they were complimenting her. As soon as April had her books gathered together, she looked up at Kaitlyn and Alex and said "I'd better get going now. I don't want to be late for Biology."

"Oh, you've got Biology next? Small world. Me and Alex have that class next too with four more of our friends. Let's head there together," Kaitlyn said.

"That's not necessary," April said, as she started to power walk away from the two. She had just rounded a corner when she crashed right into someone. As she landed on her butt, April said "Ouch! I'm really sorry to whoever I just crashed into. I wasn't watching where I was going and I'm kind of in a hurry right now."

"It's no problem at all. Let me help you up," said the mystery person as he held out his hand.

Grabbing hold of this mystery person's hand, April looked up only for her brown eyes to meet with a pair of olive-green eyes. April also took notice of the almost shoulder-length black hair and lip ring, which seemed a bit out of place on a boy at their school. As she made it to her feet, April knelt back down to pick up her books again only for her mystery helper to start picking them up already. Taking the books that the boy already picked up, April said "That wasn't really necessary, but thanks anyway."

"It was no big deal. It'd be pretty rude of me if I didn't help a girl out when she clearly needs it," said the boy.

"Thanks again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should really be headed off to class," April said, speeding off, not bothering to make sure she had all of her books.

…

Phil had just decided to hang back while Alex and Kaitlyn took care of getting Eve and the Bella twins to stop messing with the girl they had surrounded. He saw that they managed to safely defuse the situation before things could've gotten physical between the girls. He hadn't counted on the girl that Alex and Kaitlyn were saving to speed off and crash into him. Dropping down to his knees, Phil hurriedly helped the girl gather her books before she leapt up and sped off to her next class. Looking down, Phil noticed that there was a marble notebook on the floor that had 'Property of April Mendez' written on the cover in permanent marker. He picked up the notebook as Alex and Kaitlyn came to meet back up with him.

"So I take it you two were able to run Eve and the clones away?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. They'd just better be glad I wasn't in a mood to fight anybody," Alex said.

"Alex, I don't think Matt and Jeff would like it if you got a suspension so early in the year," Kaitlyn said.

"I'm aware of that, Kait. But, at least I'd be able to give them a valid reason about why I got suspended," Alex said.

"What about your dad? What would you do if he found out?" Kaitlyn asked.

Opening her mouth to say something but then rethinking it, Alex said "Oh, dang. I almost forgot to think about how my dad would react to this. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a good idea if I tried to fight Eve."

As the girls chatted on and the three headed for their Biology class, Phil had decided to look through the notebook that belonged to that April girl he just helped. He knew he shouldn't have been reading what was written in it, but the more Phil read what April had written, the more he got wrapped up in what was in his hands. Once he finished reading everything that was written in the notebook, Phil closed the covers together and, with a sudden rush of joy, a smile stretched its way across his face. 'I think I may have just found my partner for the comic book contest,' Phil thought to himself. Now all he had to do was tell April about his proposal and see if she would be up for it.

**Want to know Phil's proposal? Stay tuned for Chapter 4. Don't forget to R&R please. =)**


	4. Considerations and Searching

**Just before I get into the chapter, Mary Williams is the OC of foldintothenight.**

Phil, Alex, and Kaitlyn made it to class in time enough to not be counted tardy by their Biology teacher, Mr. Van Dam. Mr. Van Dam was different from most of the teachers in the sense that he was a bit more relaxed than they were when it came to establishing a relationship with his students. For instance, he was fine with students turning in work late as long as they weren't too late with turning it in for a grade. Also, instead of having the students call him Mr. Van Dam, he preferred it if the students called him by his first name, Rob. There were many students that still opted to call him Mr. Van Dam, but most students decided to go with calling him Rob. Because of his laid-back attitude, Rob had a great reputation with his students, as well as other students across the school for being one of the most chill teachers to get along with. This was why Phil liked Rob so much as a teacher. If he was falling a little behind in class, Phil could at least count on Rob to work with him on setting up dates for turning in assignments.

As the three made it to class, they walked over to join up with the friends that had Biology with them, Cody Rhodes, Mary Williams, Daniel Bryan, and Kofi Kingston.

"Well, it's about time you three showed up," Kofi said.

"Sorry for cutting it a bit close. We kind of got held up in the halls," Phil said.

"What happened? Did Alex get into another fight?" Mary asked.

"No. And, I'll have you know, Mare, Ryan was asking for it when I punched him in the nose. That man-beast should know better than try to look up a young lady's skirt and make passes at me when my boyfriend is standing less than a foot away from me," Alex said.

"He should know better, but did you really have to tackle him? I mean, I'm no fan of Ryan Reeves myself, but did you really have to beat him up so bad that he had to get stitches in his lip?" Mary asked.

"Mare, I'm sure you would've done the same thing if you were in my shoes and he was making passes at you while Ted was with you," Alex said, sticking her tongue out at Mary.

"Hmm, I guess you're right about that, Alex. After all, no one comes between me and my man," Mary said. "So, to change the subject before my anger flares up, what really held you guys up? We were starting to think that maybe you guys were going to cut class today."

"Phil got distracted and stopped in the middle of the hall when we were headed this way. Me and Alex circled back to see what the big deal was, only to see Eve Torres and the Bella clones picking on some poor defenseless kid," Kaitlyn said. "So, being the good students we are, me and Alex approached them and decided to let them know not to pick on students that can't fend for themselves."

"Haha. Looks like you two were trying to get your good deeds for the day done early," Mary said, laughing. "So who was the kid you two helped out?"

"It was that April girl in here with us. I can't see her right now, but she should be in here. She sped off so fast, we didn't even get the chance to invite her to come and sit with us," Alex said, shrugging.

"Well, can you blame her, Alex? I mean, imagine getting saved from bullies by two girls and both of those girls have some of the craziest hair in this entire school," Kofi said.

"Whatever, Kofi. Not all of us can grow our hair out into freakishly long dreads, now can we?" Alex asked.

Looking over to see Phil reading through the pages of a book, Daniel asked "Hey Phil, what are you reading over there? Is it a new issue of The Walking Dead?"

"Huh? Oh no. It's that April girl's notebook. She ran off before I could give it back to her, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to read some of the stuff she wrote in here," Phil said.

"A personal notebook? Phil, I don't think it's the best idea to read through something like that. For all you know, you could be reading her diary or something," Daniel said, a slight authoritative tone lacing his voice.

"Relax, Danny. I mean, how could you resist the urge to want to read something like a personal notebook? Plus, the stuff she wrote in here is some pretty awesome stuff. Better than some comic books I've read before," Phil said.

"Oh, come on, Phil. Like you, I consider myself to be a fine connoisseur of comic books and other kinds of reading, but there's no possible way that a bunch of stories written by some random girl are all that great," Daniel said.

"You don't believe me? Well, here. Start at the top of this page and read all the way to the end of it," Phil said, handing the notebook over to Daniel.

Taking the notebook, Daniel decided to look at what Phil told him to read. At first, he couldn't seem to figure out what the big deal was about the stories in the notebook. But, after he reached a certain point in the story, Daniel was hooked on what he was reading. He almost didn't want to put the notebook down, but Phil snatching it from his hands snapped Daniel out of his intense focus on the story he was reading. "Hey, no fair! I was just getting to a good part!"

"Too bad, runt. I found it, which means, I get to read more of it," Phil said.

Looking over at the two boys, Kaitlyn said "Now, I know I haven't been paying much attention to what you two were talking about over here, but it seems like you both are pretty excited about something."

Phil and Daniel weren't even aware that their argument had gotten so out of hand, so when they saw that Kaitlyn and the others were watching them, they both tried to hide the looks of guilt on their faces. Phil then said "Well, we weren't really talking about much, but if you guys must know, we were talking about something we were reading."

"What were you two reading over there?" Mary asked.

"Well, you know how Alex and Kaitlyn said that they helped that girl April this morning with her mess with Eve and the Bellas?" Phil asked. "She took off for here so fast that she forgot one of her notebooks. Upon taking a closer look at it and reading through it, I've been finding that there's more to April Mendez than we once may have thought."

"What exactly could you mean by that, Philly?" Mary asked.

"What I mean is that April's got some serious writing chops. I mean, there's stuff she's written in here that's better than most of the best that's popular to read," Phil said.

"So, does this mean that you've finally found a prospective partner to write the story for the comic book that you want to do for the contest?" Alex asked.

"I believe that's exactly what it means. Now all I need to do is ask April if she'd be willing to be my partner," Phil said, as he and the others turned their attention to Rob as he began his lecture for the day.

…

April sat through Biology while Josh talked with her about their upcoming projects in Mr. Cole's class.

"I'm just really hoping the people that I get grouped up with will at least pull their weight with the work. The last thing I need is for there to be a repeat of Digital Media with Mr. Bradshaw and the infamous animation project," Josh said, as a visible shudder went up his spine.

"I'm pretty sure Mr. Cole will let us pick our groups. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get put in a group together," April said, smiling reassuringly.

"Hopefully, you'll be right. Would you believe that Ryan Reeves tried to shove me into a locker before I came here?" Josh said, as he rubbed his right shoulder.

"He did what? Josh, that's horrible. Did you at least tell anyone?" April asked, concerned for her friend.

"There wasn't any need to. Before I could try to yell for help, one of the Hardy boys and one of their friends pulled Ryan off of me and made him leave. I may have overdone it a little when I was thanking them, but I felt the need to let them know how grateful I was," Josh said, blushing a bit.

"Do you remember which Hardy it was and which one of their friends it was?" April asked.

"Umm, if I remember right, the Hardy that helped me was the one that doesn't dye his hair and their friend was that guy they call JoMo," Josh said.

"Wow. That sounds a bit like how my morning's been. I was leaving Mr. Cole's class to go to my locker when Eve and both of the Bellas cornered me. Eve slapped my books out of my hand and they just laughed at me until two of the girls in this class with us came and saved me," April said.

"Eve's always scared me a little. She just seems way too high maintenance to be a student in high school," Josh said. "Do you know who it was that helped you out?"

"It was Kaitlyn Bonin and Alexis Hardy. They both seemed to be nice enough to help me out, but it kind of startled me when they asked if I wanted to walk here with them. Then, once I manage to get away from them, I walk around the corner only to bump right into Phillip Brooks of all people," April said.

"Kaitlyn's pretty cool and Alex is really nice, but it still confuses me when I think about the fact that they're both somehow friends with Phil. Don't get me wrong. Phil's pretty cool, but he's just a bit too hardcore for people like us," Josh said, adjusting his glasses.

"I know what you mean. It just felt so weird having those three fuss over me, so I peeled out of there as fast as I could. Which reminds me, I have to check to make sure I have all of my things. I ran off so fast, I forgot to double check to make sure that I had all of my stuff," April said. Going through her backpack, April saw that she had all of her pencils, her house key, her textbooks, and her notebooks. However, a closer look showed that she didn't have her journal. Taking her things out of her backpack, April's biggest fears were realized: she lost her journal where she had been writing down stories.

Looking over to see April slightly panicked, Josh asked "April, what is it? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

"No, no ghosts over here. I'm just extremely freaked because I seem to have lost my story journal," April said, trying to keep the panic from her voice.

"Your story journal? Oh man, that's not good. After class, I'll help you retrace your steps before we go to lunch. With the two of us on the look for it, I'm sure we'll be able to find it," Josh said, reassuringly.

Hearing what Josh had to say, April settled back in her seat and went back to paying attention to what Rob was lecturing about. While she was feeling better that Josh said he'd help her look around for her journal, April couldn't shake the creeping feeling that someone may have already found and read what was in her journal. If that were to happen, then April felt she would never be able to show her face around school ever again.

**Phil and Daniel are such nosy boys, aren't they? Now, bear with me because next chapter's going to be when Phil and April have their first actual conversation with each other, so stay tuned. Don't forget to R&R please.**


	5. Phil's Proposition

Biology passed by quicker than Phil and the others had thought it did. Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of second period and the beginning of lunch and study hall. Lunch wasn't exactly a bad part of the day; it was just a part of the day that Phil wanted to spend doing something other than going into a crowded room just to eat food that wasn't really considered healthy to many. As Phil and the others walked to the cafeteria to join up with their friends, Phil noticed two of the students from his Biology class walking around with worried looks on their faces.

Looking back to see that Phil had stopped, Mary asked "Hey Phil? Is something wrong? More students in need of help from the Straight Edge Savior?"

"You could say that, Mare. Look over there. Isn't that April Mendez and Josh Matthews from Bio with us?" Phil asked, pointing towards the pair.

"I believe it is. I wonder what's up. They both look like they're on the hunt for something," Mary said.

Looking down at the notebook of April's that was in his hand, Phil said "I think I know what they're looking for." Holding up April's notebook, he said "I think they're looking for this notebook of April's."

"Then give it back to her. If she looks that upset over something like a notebook, then I'm sure it has some kind of serious meaning to her," Mary said.

"I probably should. After all, if I do, I could use that as an opportunity to ask her about entering the contest with me," Phil said.

"That sounds like a plan. You want me to tell the others to go on without you?" Mary asked.

"Yeah. If I don't make it to the cafeteria, make sure to let Amy and the others know where I am. The last thing I need is for her to come looking for me," Phil said.

"OK. Good luck with the rich girl. Something's telling me you're going to need it," Mary said, walking off to join back up with Alex and the others.

Watching as his friends walked away, Phil looked over to April and Josh as they continued their nervous walking. Taking a breath, Phil called "Hey, April. I think I have something of yours."

…

As soon as second period was over, April and Josh sped out of Rob's classroom to begin their search for April's story journal. The two began by walking back to where April had first walked into Phil after she sped away from Kaitlyn and Alex. When their search of the area revealed nothing, the two then walked back the ways April had taken to Rob's class and when she had left Mr. Cole's class. After spending a few minutes looking, Josh felt as though they kept hitting brick walls.

"April, don't get me wrong. I don't mind helping you out, but I don't think your journal is anywhere around here," Josh said, leaning against the wall.

"We can't give up looking though, Josh! Everything in that journal is personal and I don't want anyone to get their hands on it and read the stuff that I've written," April said, trying to continue with their search.

"What's so important about what you write in there anyways? I'm sure if most people were to read what you write, they'd think it was pretty great," Josh said.

April was about to open her mouth to tell Josh about what gave her most of the inspiration for her stories when she heard a voice calling over to her.

"Hey April. I think I have something of yours."

April and Josh's heads snapped over to see that the source of the voice was none other than Phil Brooks.

Whispering, Josh said "April, that's Phil Brooks. What could he want with you?"

"I don't know, Josh. But, whatever it is, it can't be good," April said, as she watched Phil walk towards her. She almost turned to walk away when Phil caught up to her.

"Good. I found you before you got away," Phil said.

April was immediately a bit on edge. This was because she knew about Phil's schoolwide reputation as a bit of a standoffish teen, as well as the fact that he's been held back twice. She had no idea what someone like him could want with her, so, cutting to the chase, she said "Look, I don't know what it is that you could want with me, so just tell me what it is that you have that's supposedly mine."

Pulling out what she was looking for, April saw that Phil had the very notebook that she and Josh had spent minutes looking for. "Hey, that's my notebook! Give it back!"

"By all means, take it," Phil said, as April snatched the notebook from his hands.

Cradling the notebook closely to her, April looked up at Phil and nervously asked "You didn't read anything that I wrote in here, did you?"

Looking down at the floor, Phil said "Yeah, yeah I did."

Hearing Phil say this had April immediately start to panic. Her biggest fear had been realized. Someone, aside from Josh, had read the stories she had written in her notebook. Mumbling, she said "Oh my god. I can't believe you would do something like that." In a louder tone, she said "How could you do something like that? The stories I wrote in here were never meant to read by other people!"

"Whoa, whoa. No need to get your skirt in a bunch," Phil said, holding up his hands in a 'Don't kill me' gesture. "Now, to explain myself, I'm sorry. I just got curious about the notebook and I read through what you had written in it. And I have to admit, April, you've got some serious writing skills."

Blushing at what Phil said, April said "I'm not that great of a writer. I mean, Josh tells me I am, but I think he tells me that to make me feel good about my writing skills."

From behind April, Josh said "But, I do mean what I say when I tell you that your writing is great. You write with a really strong passion that I'll be most people wish they had."

"Your friend is right, April. And it's because of your great writing skills that I have a proposition for you," Phil said.

Curiously, April asked "What kind of proposition could you have for someone like me?"

Smiling, Phil said "There's a comic book contest coming up soon. The deadline for entrants is in two weeks."

"And you're telling me this…because?" April asked.

"Simple. I want you to team up with me to write a comic book to enter into the contest," Phil said.

Not expecting to hear this as the proposition, April looked at Phil and said "I'm sorry. You want me to do _what_ with you exactly?"

"You heard me. Enter the comic book contest with me. I'm sure that with your story and my drawings, we'll place for sure," Phil said.

April couldn't believe what Phil just asked her. Of all the things in the whole world he could've asked her, it just had to be writing a comic book. She couldn't think of something more childish if she wanted to. Looking up to meet Phil's eyes, April said "I don't think I can."

"What? Why not?" Phil asked, obviously confused and curious.

"Because wanting to write something like a comic book is childish. Plus, it just seems like something that will eat away at time that we can't be taking away from school," April said.

"But that's the beauty of the contest. There's a schedule for when certain parts of the comic are supposed to be submitted. And the good thing is that the finished comic is to be submitted during our winter break," Phil said, trying to convince April to change her mind.

Thinking over what Phil just told her, April said "Can I at least have time think this over? I don't even know if I'll be able to enter it or not, much less come up with a story that would work well for a comic book."

"By all means, take all the time that you need to think things through. How about you let me know what you want to do by the end of the week? Does that sound like a plan?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. I should have my mind made up by then," April said.

"Great. Guess I'll see you and your friend around then," Phil said, turning on his heel and walking away.

Watching after the retreating form of Phil, April turned to look at Josh, who was staring at her with obvious shock on his face. Looking at her friend, April said "What?"

"You just struck up a conversation with Phil Brooks like it was nothing. I'm amazed," Josh said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

Blushing, April said "Shut up, Josh. What did you expect me to do? Just run away from him or try to hide?"

"Neither, really. It just amazed me that he asked you what he asked you. Are you going to take him up on his offer?" Josh asked.

"I'm not sure, actually. I mean, it sounds like it'd be fun to write something like a comic book with him, but I have absolutely no knowledge of comic books at all," April said.

"Then it sounds like you may need a bit of a crash course in comic book reading. Maybe after school and after we do our homework we could go to the local comic book store and buy some samples so that you can get a feel for how to write a story for one," Josh said. "But, maybe, and hear me out on this, we should probably invite Phil to come with us. Next to me, he seems to have the most knowledge when it comes to buying and reading comic books."

Curiosity crossed April's face as she asked "Really Josh? _You_ read comic books?"

Laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his head, Josh said "Well, I got to have something to do when my parents aren't at home and when I'm done with my homework. Plus, comic books are way easier to hide than trying to hide video game consoles, although I can say that I've had some success with hiding my Nintendo DS and my PSP in my closet."

In a joking manner, April asked "OK, who are you and what have you done with my friend Josh Matthews?"

Laughing at April's joke, Josh said "Relax. I'm still me, just a different version of me that's into the kinds of things that our parents don't want us to have or really show interest in."

"I wish I was that brave. But I'd be willing to bet that the minute my parents were to ever find out that I like stuff like comic books and video games, they'd probably ground me until I graduate from college," April said, as she and Josh took off for the cafeteria.

All while she and Josh headed to the cafeteria to get lunch, April thought back over everything she and Phil had talked about, as well as what she and Josh just talked about. The whole idea of writing comic books still felt strange to her, but she'd at least give entering the contest Phil told her about some consideration before she told him. She had until the end of the week, which she felt would be more than enough time to think over the options that came with entering and not entering and whether or not she was going to.

**Now that I've finally had April and Phil have their first real meeting with each other, I can finally get into the PunkLee and friends fun. =) Stay tuned for more. And don't forget to R&R please.**


	6. Attempts at Making Friends

April was still reeling from hearing Phil's offer for her. Even though Josh told her that he'd help her find good source material later that day in case she did decide to enter the contest with Phil, she was still feeling nervous about the contest altogether. Her nervous feeling came from the fact that she would be doing something out of her comfort zone and something that could potentially get her in big trouble with her parents. Swallowing down her nerves, she decided to head on to the cafeteria with Josh in the hopes of trying to get something for lunch. Once the two arrived at the cafeteria, they went through the line and paid for their food, only to be met with the daunting task of trying to find a table to sit at. This always seemed to be a bit of a problem because the cafeteria seemed to be divided by cliques: jocks, cheerleaders, roughnecks, preps, populars, gangsters, band students, wanna-be rock stars, brains, clique less students, freaks, and several other cliques.

Seeing two empty seats nearby, Josh said "April, there are seats at the end of the freaks' table."

Looking in the direction Josh was pointing, April asked "Isn't that usually where Phil sits?"

"Does it really matter at this point? Either we sit with them, or we could always take our chances sitting near Eve or Ryan or maybe even Titus," Josh said, trying to reason with his friend.

Trying to suppress her shudder, April said "Fine. I guess we can sit with the freaks. But the minute things seem to start going downhill between us and them, I'm bolting."

As the two made their way to the freaks' table, April and Josh looked around to make sure that none of their usual tormentors were going to spot them; although, with as large of a crowd that was seated around them, that seemed unlikely. Once the pair reached their destination, they were a bit hesitant to make a move as far as asking to sit with them.

Deciding to be brave, Josh stepped forward and cleared his throat, which drew the attention of all of the seated freaks. Trying to fight the unwelcome blush that started to cross his face, Josh took a huge, gulping breath of air and said "Uh, hi. I'm Josh and this is my friend April. We noticed that you guys had two empty seats here. Would it be cool if we sat here with you guys?"

Piping up from her seat near the empty seats, Kaitlyn said "Sure, no problem. Is it guys?" which earned multiple responses of "It's fine" and "It's cool with us".

Looking back to April, Josh said "Come on, April. It'll be fine. They won't hurt us."

"I find that highly unlikely, but if you say so," April mumbled, as she walked towards the table and took the seat across from Josh. Once she sat down, she proceeded to try to eat the food she bought. While she was feeling glad that the freaks were fine with her and Josh sitting at their table, she just couldn't seem to keep a clamp on her anxiety at being so near the students that most everyone in the school said were a bit weird. It wasn't until she looked to her left that she noticed that Kaitlyn and one of the boys at their table had switched places.

"Not to freak you out, but I swapped places with Cody. I kinda had a feeling that you wouldn't want to be too near him and Alex while you're trying to eat," Kaitlyn said, smiling.

"Kaitlyn, shut up. It's not like me and Cody were kissing or anything," Alex said, from Kaitlyn's other side.

"Not yet, Alex. Not yet. And the last thing we want is for April and Josh here to get grossed out by your PDA," Kaitlyn said.

"Hey, now. All me and Cody really do is hug. Mind you, we haven't even really had our first real kiss yet," Alex said, trying to hide her blush. "At least we're not like some of the other couples here. I mean, have you even seen Antonio and Aksana? They got so bad one day, Mr. Long threatened to split them up so that they couldn't have classes or anything else with each other."

"That's why me and the others try to keep a close eye on you two," Kaitlyn said.

"Whatever. It's not like you do that with Ted and Mary," Alex said, shoveling a forkful of spaghetti in her mouth.

"That's because Mare and Ted can control themselves enough not to do anything too vulgar. Plus, I don't think Mare wants to deal with having to come near blows with Aksana or Eve again," Kaitlyn said.

"I guess so," Alex said. Looking towards the end of the table, she saw the looks on Josh and April's faces and said "I'm so sorry you two had to hear that. We don't usually argue like that, it's just that me and some of the other girls get a bit touchy when it comes to our boyfriends."

Laughing, Josh said "It's no problem. We've been around enough couples here to know about the perils of encroaching on some girls' 'property'."

Blushing, Alex said "Well, I don't so much consider Cody my 'property'; I just get a bit testy when I see some girls try to flirt with him. It gets under my skin and yet it never seems to stop."

"I wouldn't let it get to you so much, if I were you. It may seem stalkerish of me to say this, but I've seen how you two are with each other. Something's telling that you two were meant for each other," Josh said, smiling.

Grinning, Alex said "Well, thanks for that Josh. That seems to be the prevailing opinion among everyone in our group. So, switching gears, April, how's the rest of your morning been? You haven't had any more problems with Eve, have you?"

Quickly looking up from her tray, April squeaked out "No, none at all."

"That's good. I almost did want to fight Eve for doing that to an innocent freshman. And Alex, I would've had you handle the Bella bimbos for me," Kaitlyn said, digging into her own tray of food.

"And what, may I ask, happened to the Kaitlyn that was telling me off about my desire to want to fight those bimbos?" Alex asked, jokingly shoving Kaitlyn.

"You cannot blame me for having these tendencies, Alex. It's just wired into me, I guess," Kaitlyn said, shrugging.

"I swear you adopted some of those tendencies from Mary," Alex said. Looking around, Alex said "Hey, have either one of you two seen Phil around anywhere? I could've sworn I heard him say that he had something to give to April when we split off from him."

Looking up from her tray, April said "I thought he may have come in here with you guys. He did head in this direction once he left me and Josh."

"That's weird," Alex said. Turning to her left, Alex asked "Hey Amy, you didn't happen to see Phil come in here, did you?"

Turning to see who Alex was talking to, April saw that Amy was, in a way, a bit like Alex. She had her hair dyed red and the ends of a tattoo on her right shoulder could just be seen under the sleeve of her polo shirt. "No, I haven't. He did text me though. Said he was going to grab something out of the vending machines and go sit outside."

"Oh, OK. I was just starting to get worried because I had a feeling that he may be in here, but got into a fight with someone," Alex said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Confused, April tapped Kaitlyn on the shoulder and said "I don't get it. Why did Alex sound so relieved when that girl said that Phil was somewhere else?"

Laughing, Kaitlyn said "Oh that's right. You two don't know that much about Phil. Well, to give you the shorthand story about him, Phil is the kind of person that doesn't shy away from letting people know how he feels. As a result of him valuing his freedom of speech, it's led to him getting into quite a few fights with some of the other guys here. But, in Phil's defense, some of those guys deserve it, if you ask me."

Starting to feel a bit nervous at that, April made a move like she was going to dash out of the cafeteria but was stopped from doing so by a reassuring glance from Josh. Swallowing down her fear once more, April proceeded to finish eating her lunch while conversation went on around her. Once she was done, she went to go throw away her trash and decided to go back and sit with the freaks. April was still feeling a bit apprehensive about being so near them, but with Josh around, she didn't feel so nervous. Making sure that no one else noticed, she decided to take out her notebook and started up a new story. Writing was one of the only comforts April had aside from going home and reading poetry every day after school. She had gotten so wrapped up in her writing that she hadn't even realized the bell was ringing until she felt Josh shaking her shoulders and heard him telling her that it was time to leave. Rising from her seat, April left with Josh as the other students filed out of the cafeteria to head for their third period classes for the day.

"So, what classes do you guys have?" Kaitlyn asked, once they were out of the cafeteria.

"I'm headed to Spanish with Mrs. Guerrero next. Not particularly a class I enjoy, but I need it as a course credit," Josh said, shrugging.

"I'm headed that way myself," Kaitlyn said, smiling. "Want to walk there together?"

"Sure. Fine with me," Josh said, fighting back his blush as he smiled. "April, are you going to be fine with walking to Mr. Cornette's class by yourself?"

"Uhh, sure," April said, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Wait. Mr. Cornette's class? Our friends Melina and Mickie have that class next too," Alex said. "You should walk there with them."

"I couldn't do that. I wouldn't want to be a bother," April said.

"It'll be no bother at all," Alex said. Turning around, Alex yelled "Yo Micks, Mel! Can you two come here real quick?"

Looking around Alex, April saw two girls headed to where she was still standing with Alex and the others. One girl had slightly tanned skin and curly brown hair, while the other girl was Hispanic and had long black hair. Once the girls reached Alex, the girl with curly hair asked "Dare I ask this, but what's so important that you had to yell to get us over here?"

"I need you and Melina to do me a favor, Mickie," Alex said. Stepping back to April's side, Alex said "This is April. She's a bit nervous about heading to Mr. Cornette's class by herself, so I was wondering if you two could walk there with her since you both have that class next."

"Sure. I've got no problem with letting April walk with us," Mickie said.

"I don't either," said Melina.

"Great," Alex said. Turning back to look at April, Alex said "I can tell you're nervous, but you've got nothing to fear, April. Melina and Mickie are really awesome and they'll be sure to keep any bullies away from you. Especially Mickie, she's got a bit of a 'defender of the weak' complex, but I think she gets that from Phil."

"I heard that, Alex," Mickie said as Melina snickered. Shaking her head as she laughed, Mickie said "Come on, April. Let's head to class so that the three of us can get seats together."

Meekly, April said "Okay" as she walked off, leaving Josh behind with the others. Walking with Melina and Mickie was a strange experience for April because while they carried on with a talk about plans they had to go out with the others to go see some band performing at one of the shops in town, she was deep in her own thoughts about the writing assignment they had to do for Mr. Cornette, who was their Creative Writing teacher. April really enjoyed Mr. Cornette's class, but at the same time, she hated it because she had to deal with Eve being in there with her. She hadn't even noticed that Melina and Mickie were talking to her until she heard Melina asking her a question.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Were you saying something…uhh, Melina?" April asked, looking up to the taller girls.

"Yeah. I was asking if maybe you'd want to meet up with us on Friday and go to a concert with us. One of the teachers here has his own music place where he lets bands perform and one of the local bands is having a show this Friday," Melina said.

"You should definitely come with us. The shows are always a lot of fun," Mickie said, smiling.

Blushing, April said "I don't think I'll be able to make it, but thanks for the offer to go."

"Oh, OK. Well, if you change your mind, be sure to let us know," Mickie said, as the three finally made it to class and took three empty seats in the middle of the classroom.

All April did was meekly shake her head to show that she'd let them know if she was going to change her mind. While Melina and Mickie talked beside her, April kept all of her attention on Mr. Cornette as he lectured the class about some of the finer elements of writing a good story that had psychological twists, which was something that April was interested in. She had gotten so wrapped up in Mr. Cornette's lecture and her note-taking that she again wasn't aware of the bell ringing to let them know that third period was over. Rising from her seat, April made a dash for the door before Mickie and Melina could stop her so that she could head to her last class of the day, which was Gymnastics with Mrs. Holly. However, all April was hoping was that the day could be over as soon as possible so that she could meet up with Josh after school so that the two could head home together. She just couldn't believe that she was feeling so stressed just because of the fact that she and Josh had decided to be a bit adventurous and branch out to some of their fellow students. All she did know was that was seriously going to have to give entering the contest with Phil some more thought.

…

Phil wasn't even aware that he had skipped third period until he heard the bell for fourth period ringing, not that he cared. His third period class, which was Basics of Debating with Mr. Bradshaw, was a class he could've done without. This was the case because he had always been on Mr. Bradshaw's bad side for some weird reason and he had that class with one of the people that always managed to get under his and Alex's skin, Damien Sandow. Instead of circling around to Mr. Bradshaw's room, Phil decided to head to his fourth period, which was Visual Arts with Mr. Levy. Next to Rob, Mr. Levy was one of Phil's favorite teachers in the whole school because he was often told that he reminded Mr. Levy of himself when he was a teen.

Arriving at Mr. Levy's room with a few minutes to spare before the bell rang, Phil walked in the room and put his things at his usual table and left back out to go get a drink from the water fountain. He had just turned around the corner when he collided with another student. Rubbing his chest, Phil almost went off on the other student until he looked down and saw that he had, for the second time that day, bumped into April. Holding his hand out, Phil said "Let me help you up, April."

Taking his hand, April blushed and said "I really think we should stop meeting each other like this."

"I think we should too," Phil said, laughing a little. "So, what seems to be the rush? Seems to me like you were a bit in of a rush there."

"I was trying to get to my fourth period early so that I wouldn't get caught in the rush to get in the locker room," April said. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."

"No need to rush. You've still got time to go there before you have to worry about any stragglers making mad dashes for the locker room," Phil said.

Letting out her own little laugh, April said "Obviously, you've never had to deal with the problems that come with being with one of the smallest students in school before. It's not really all that pleasant of a thing."

"I can only imagine. Alex seems to have those kinds of problems all the time," Phil said, laughing.

"I find that hard to believe, but then again, it does seem like she's a bit taller than I am," April said.

"She actually is, but that still doesn't stop her from having height issues," Phil said, as the two reached Mr. Levy's room. "Well, this is my stop. Good luck in your fourth period."

"Thanks," April said, blushing. Before she forgot, April said "Phil, wait."

Turning to look back at April, Phil said "Hmm. What is it?"

"Umm, I was wondering if maybe after school today, you'd want to meet up with me and Josh and go to a comic book store. I've never read one before, so I have no idea about how to go about writing a story for one," April said. "So, maybe you could go with us and help me pick out some comic books that might be good reads."

Hearing April's question after she was finally get around her stammering, Phil said "Sure, I'd love to meet up with you and your little friend. How about we meet up back here at the school and we can go from there? I know this really awesome place nearby."  
"OK. Well, I guess I'll see after school. Have a good class," April said as she sped away for her fourth period class.

Walking into Mr. Levy's room, Phil was surprised to see that Alex, Dustin, Mary, Jeff, Ashley, Amy, and Colt had made it into the classroom without him even noticing. "You know, I'm seriously starting to think you guys might have some kind of secret ninja skills since you all managed to slip in here without me noticing," Phil said.

Laughing, Amy said "Hey, it's not our fault you were busy romancing an innocent freshman. What were you guys talking about out there anyways?"

"Well, I bumped into April and we talked for a bit. And somehow, I think I might've set myself up on a date with her," Phil said, thinking back over everything that had just happened between him and April.


	7. April's First Time (Buying Comic Books)

Fourth period ended seemingly quickly for most of the students at school. Phil hadn't even been aware that it was time to go until he felt Amy and Colt shaking his shoulders to snap him out of his intense focus on the drawing that he was working for Mr. Levy's class. The project that they were assigned to work on for the week was to draw a picture that was a life study of a particular animal done in any style the students chose. Phil had decided to work on drawing a fox that had looks of coming from a horror movie. He had gotten most of his drawing done while Amy and the others talked around him, so he didn't have much left to work on.

"I really don't feel like working today. But, oh well, I've got to make this money," Alex said, moaning as she and the others walked home from school.

"Buck up, Lexi. You know that I would love to cover for you, but at least you've got Kaitlyn working with you today," Jeff said.

"I know, but if you hear me yelling that I need help with the shipment that's coming in today, I expect you to come help me out," Alex said.

Hearing Alex and Jeff bicker for a bit, Phil kept thinking back to the fact that he was going to have to meet up with April in a few minutes after school to go to a comic book store with her. He wasn't even aware that he had zoned out again until he heard Colt trying to tell him something. "Oh, my bad, man. I wasn't paying attention. Did you just ask me something?"

"Yeah. I was wondering if you were going to need help with your homework tonight. I've got Spanish work and some stuff for my Algebra class, but I'll be able to help if you need it," Colt said.

"Oh. Well, believe it or not, I've got a free night aside from reading over my notes about the Black Plague, seeing as how we have a project coming up for that soon," Phil said. "But, I might let that wait until later tonight. Other than that, I've got the day free."

"You lucky punk," Colt said, laughing and shaking his head. "Guess this means that you're going to spend the day playing your Xbox?"

"I'm sure Phil would love to do that, but he's got a _date_ today," Amy said, jabbing Phil in the ribs.

"For the record, Amy, it is not a date that I have with April. It is merely just me helping a friend out with something," Phil said, rubbing the spot where he got jabbed.

"And what could it possibly be that you're going to help Miss April with?" Mary asked.

"She needs help finding good inspiration for the comic book that we're going to submit for the contest, so I plan on taking her out to a shop around here to look for some that won't be too intense for a first-time reader like her," Phil said.

"Aww, Philly and April have a date," Mary said, in a sing-songy voice.

"Again, it's not a date. It's just two friends going out to buy comic books with each other. Nothing more, nothing less," Phil said.

"Yeah, I'm _so_ sure it isn't," Mary said, rolling her eyes as she, Amy, and Alex shared a secret smile with each other.

"Whatever, Mare. And, by the way, don't you and Dustin have to go get your brother and sister from school?" Phil said, a mischievous smirk crossing his face.

Sudden remembrance crossing her face, Mary said "Oh, damn it, you're right! Come on Dustin! Billy and Chelsea are going to freak if we're late getting them! We'll see you guys tomorrow" as she and Dustin split off from the others and headed off in the direction of the middle school.

"I guess we should head home too. Gotta be there to open the shop for the afternoon rush. We'll see you three tomorrow," Alex said as she and Jeff headed in the direction of their home, leaving Amy, Phil, and Colt standing.

Sighing as the trio took off for their own homes, Amy said "I feel so lazy in comparison to everyone else. Everybody's got things to do and I'm going home just to do nothing of importance."

"Don't you have to meet up with Shannon and Jeff so that you guys can head to Shane's place and practice for your gig this Friday?" Colt asked.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me, Colt. I swear most people would say that practicing rock music is a waste of time," Amy said. "I say that it's better than being an overly peppy cheerleader."

"Don't let Candice hear you saying that about cheerleaders," Colt said, laughing.

"Oh, hush. Candice knows I only joke with her when I say that about the cheerleaders. I just don't know how it is that she can have so much pep when it comes to school," Amy said.

"You know, Ames, as much fun as it would be to hear you two go on with your theories about the cheerleaders, it would seem that we've reached my house. I'll see you guys later," Phil said.

"OK. Try not to mess up your date with April," Colt yelled over his shoulder as he and Amy walked off.

Mumbling under his breath, Phil said "For the last damn time, it is not a date." Shaking his head, Phil headed into his house and looked around for his mom. After his search turned up empty, Phil finally decided to head into the kitchen to try to find something to eat for a quick snack when something caught his eye. Looking on the refrigerator, Phil saw a note from his mom:  
_"Phil, bad news. I got called in to work second shift tonight. I'm more than sure you'll be fine at home by yourself, but if you need to, go stay the night at Amy's. Again, sorry if it's a little last minute that you find this out, but look at it this way: I get more money on my paycheck this week and we get to have a weekend out for some major fun. Love you, and see you tomorrow, Mom. XOXO" _Taking the note off of the refrigerator, Phil read it over before tossing the note in the trashcan, walking out of the kitchen, and heading upstairs to his bedroom. Walking over to his dresser, Phil proceeded to fish out a change of clothes so that he could ditch his school uniform and be in some of his more comfortable clothes so that he could head back out to meet up with April. Hopefully, his choice of clothing wouldn't startle April too much.

…

April stood impatiently outside of the school as she waited for Phil to come meet back up with her so that the two could head to a comic book store. She had gotten a text from Josh as soon as she walked in her house that he had to stay at home and help his sister Bayley with her homework. April understood completely because she had met Bayley a number of times before; April could never bring herself to say it out loud, but she had her own opinions about why it was that Bayley was oftentimes seen with some of the freaks at school. Bayley was a smart enough girl, but her main problem was that she had the strangest habits of wanting to talk at length about either robots or dinosaurs, which struck April as odd and just plain weird. Instead of begging Josh to ditch Bayley and come meet up with her, April replied by saying that she'd be fine with going with Punk by herself. While she may have seemed confident in herself enough to say that, April was secretly panicking on the inside; this was due in part to the fact that she was going to be alone with Phil Brooks, a teen most others would say to stay away from if you didn't want to end up hurt.

Shaking off her initial fear, April decided to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. It seemed to be working because she soon saw Phil headed her way. Dressed in a pair of cargo shorts, a t-shirt with the logo for some rock band that April had no clue of knowing about, and a pair of Vans, Phil was definitely dressed more casually than April was. April was dressed in a pinkish blouse, a skirt that just went past her knees, and a pair of open-toed sandals. As she clutched the strap of her handbag, Phil came to a stop in front of her with a grin firmly planted on his face.

"If I had known that we were going somewhere other than to a comic book store, I would've put on something better than these shorts and my favorite Metallica shirt," Phil said, grinning at April.

Blushing, April said "Well, this _is_ what I usually wear when we aren't in school. Besides, I don't really have any real casual clothes like what you're wearing."

"Relax, half-pint. I was only joking around with you," Phil said, grinning as he reached over to ruffle April's hair a bit.

This move from Phil caused April to momentarily forget to breathe as she felt a blush start to heat her cheeks. She was able to get control of herself again when she saw Phil walk off. "So, where is it exactly that we're going to buy comic books?" April asked.

"Well, there are two in this area, but one of them only sells the stuff that's a bit too mainstream and doesn't have much in the way of variety. The other one is the place I usually go to because they sell more than just comic books," Phil said.

Confused, April said "I don't get it. What more could you possibly want to buy when it comes to comic books?"

Stopping in his tracks, Phil looked down at April and said "What more? Oh, my dear sweet April. There's so much about loving comic books that you don't know. Luckily, you have me to teach you."

As the two walked on, April mumbled not-so-enthusiastically "Great." She was starting to feel as though she was falling even deeper down the rabbit hole the more she talked to Phil. She still couldn't bring herself to understand why it was that she was even entertaining Phil's idea to enter the comic book contest with him, but since she was already on the way to the shop with Phil, she figured she might as well try to get something out of it. She hadn't even been aware of the fact that Phil had stopped walking until she bumped into his back. "Oww! Why'd you just stop in the middle of the sidewalk?" April asked, looking up to the taller teen.

"Because we're here," Phil said. Gesturing to the shop behind him, Phil said "April, allow me to introduce you to Chrono Comics, one of the best comic book shops in all of Union City."

Looking up at the store in front of her, April noticed that it was surrounded by buildings to its right and left sides. However, as her eyes trailed from the sign over the top of the door and the displays set up in the window, she looked up and saw two levels of windows going up. "Is there really so much in this store that there have to be two additional levels?" April blurted without thinking.

Laughing at April's random question, Phil said "No. The levels above the store are residential areas."

Not wanting to believe him, April asked "You mean to tell me that there are actually people that live above a comic book store?"

"Yeah. The family that lives over Chrono own the place, so they decided to do some renovation work so that they could live over the shop," Phil said.

"That's crazy," April said, in wonder.

"Just wait until you see the inside of the store," Phil said, walking forward and opening the door. Gesturing inside, Phil said "Ladies first."

"Thank you," April said, as she stepped into the store. Once she stepped inside, she was greeted with a sight that definitely surprised her: a lot of the teens that went to school with her were walking around and browsing the shelves for comic books while some others were looking at what appeared to be toys on some of the shelves. All while this happened around her, April heard music by some pop group playing in the background that was being sung along to by two people.

Laughing at the look on April's face, Phil asked "Not exactly what you were expecting, was it?"

"Not at all. I mean, I never would've thought that so many of the people that went to school with us were actually into comic books," April said.

"Trust me, April. You'd be amazed at the kinds of people that are into comic books nowadays," Phil said.

April was on the verge of asking Phil something else when she heard someone yell "Phillip! April! Hi!" Turning her head, April saw that the yelling came from Kaitlyn from where she was standing with Alex behind the check-out counter.

"Oh sweet. Alex and Kaitlyn are working today," Phil said. Grabbing April by the arm, he said "Come on, let's go over to them."

"Are you sure that's such a great idea? They might be busy," April said.

"April, those two are standing back there singing and dancing to the Krewella song that's playing right now. I really don't think that constitutes being busy," Phil said.

Looking again at the two aforementioned teens, April saw that they were just goofing off. After changing her mind, April said "Sure, we can go talk to them, I guess."

Walking to the check-out counter, Phil stopped while he proceeded to listen to Alex and Kaitlyn finish their singing and dancing along to the Krewella song 'Live for the Night'. It wasn't until the two had finished that they finally noticed Phil and April standing and watching them. Once he saw the looks on Alex and Kaitlyn's faces, Phil started laughing at their attempts to look busy. "Wow, way to look busy, you two," Phil said, around his laughter.

Blushing, Alex said "Well, we didn't have to worry about ringing anybody up at the moment, so we decided to just goof around for a bit."

"No need to explain yourselves to me. If anything, seeing you to goof off is why I love coming here so much," Phil said, as he and the two girls shared a laugh.

Looking around Phil, Kaitlyn said "Hey, you managed to bring April in here with you."

Throwing an arm around April's shoulders as he brought her forward, Phil said "Yeah. I think Josh was supposed to be meeting up with us, but I'm guessing he had to change his mind and stay at home."

"Actually, he had to help his sister Bayley with some homework she had for her Spanish class," April piped up.

"Wait a minute. Bayley, as in Bayley Matthews? Bayley Matthews is Josh's sister?" Kaitlyn asked, amazement clear on her face.

"_Twin _sister, but yes. Bayley is Josh's sister," April said.

"Wow. Never would've guessed that Bay-Bay was Josh's sister," Kaitlyn said.

"How could you not have known that, Kait? It was something that I caught onto ever since we first met those two back in eighth grade," Alex said, laughing.

"Well, I didn't want to assume things were like that between them, so I just thought they were really good friends," Kaitlyn said, shrugging.

Clearing his throat, Phil said "You know as much fun as it would be to hear you two debate how it is that Josh and Bayley know each other, I think it would be great if we could get some help here."

"Right, right. So, what can we do to help you two out today?" Alex said.

"That's better. Now, I need to know what you would recommend as far as a good read for beginners to reading comic books. April here has never read one before in her life, so I want to help her find some good ones so that she can read one and get something in the way of inspiration if she chooses to join up with me for the contest," Phil said.

Overdramatically, Kaitlyn gasped while Alex said "I'm actually shocked. Usually the only people that say they've never read comic books before are the ones that think it's only for geeks." Drumming her fingers on the countertop, Alex tried to think of some titles until she heard a voice at the door. "Oh, that must be the newest shipment for the shop. Excuse me for a minute. Kait, go get the door and then try to help Phil find April some good comics to read while I try to get Jeff and some of the guys to help with this stuff." Dashing from behind the counter, Alex weaved her way around some of the other teens and, opening a door, headed into a back room.

Stepping from behind the counter, Kaitlyn said "Come with me, you two. First things first, let me let this man at the door inside so that I can sign for this stuff." Opening the door, she let the deliveryman into the shop as Phil and April stood in wait. Signing for the packages, Kaitlyn said "You can just move the boxes over to that empty space right there." Leaving the deliveryman to moving the packages around, Kaitlyn turned back to the two and said "OK, now if you two would be so kind as to follow me."

Following Kaitlyn, April made sure not to bump into any of the other teens that were in the shop as she looked around some of the books that the teens around her were looking at. She saw that most of the covers all seemed to have muscular people in tights and capes fighting either another person, some kind of monster, or a robot of sorts. The artwork all looked pretty amazing to her, but April just couldn't help but to be picky and notice that there seemed to be a real dearth of female characters on the covers of most of these comic books. Tapping Phil on the shoulder to get his attention, April asked "I'm guessing everyone here loves their superhero stuff, don't they?"

"Well, superheroes _do _tend to help make up some of the bulk of comic books. But, I think for your sake, we'll start you off with a graphic novel or two," Phil said, glancing around at the shelves.

"Graphic novel? What's that?" April asked.

"It's sort of like a comic book, but it's a collection of a few issues of a particular comic book bound together in one book," Phil said.

Clearing her throat, Kaitlyn got the attention of Phil and April and said "It's about time you two decided to remember that I was supposed to be helping you two out. Now, April, what interests you? We've got comic books that are your basic superheroes in tights, anti-heroes, normal people that fight crime in superhero costumes, tie-ins with video games and movies, and a few more."

"Umm, I don't really know what kind I'd like," April said.

"Well, take your time and look around. No need to rush. After all, I'm sure Philly won't mind if you spend a bit of time looking around," Kaitlyn said, smiling and resting a hand on April's shoulder. Casting a glare up at Phil, Kaitlyn said "You won't mind if April looks around for a bit, now _will you_?"

"Of course not. I've got some looking around for books I want to buy myself, so I'd be more than happy to wait around for April," Phil said.

"Great. Now, if you two will excuse me, I've got customers to go check out," Kaitlyn said, as she headed back for the check-out counter. "Don't hesitate to holler if you need my help with finding anything."

Once Kaitlyn had left the two of them, Phil turned to look at April and said "Well, it's like Kaitlyn just said. All around in this section we're standing in front of are the graphic novels that are media tie-ins and novel adaptations. Why don't you try to look around over here for something? I've got to check to see if there's an issue of a comic in that I need for my collection."

"Uh, sure. I'll just look around here," April said, giving Phil a shy smile.

"Great. Now, like Kaitlyn said, if you need any help, just yell and I'll come help you," Phil said.

"OK," April said, as Phil walked off, leaving her by herself. Once Phil walked away, April let out the nervous breath that she had been holding in ever since she walked into the store. She was definitely amazed at everything that was in the store, but at the same time, she felt as though she had just been transported to a foreign world without much hope of learning how to fit in. Instead of standing around and looking like a frightened rabbit, April decided to walk over to one of the shelves and picked up the first graphic novel that she saw, which was titled 'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna'. April had to admit; the artwork definitely looked amazing, plus it was a bit of a refreshing change of pace to find something that didn't have an overly muscular man on the cover. Looking through the pages, April was amazed to see that every page in the book looked just as amazing as the cover did. So, she decided that she would buy that. After spending a few minutes walking around the shelves, April found herself getting a bit addicted to what she was reading. Making her choices, April walked around trying to find Phil until she bumped into somebody and fell on the floor, dropping her books everywhere. Not being able to hold it in, April rubbed her chest and said "Why do I keep bumping into people?! I'm really sorry to whoever I bumped into."

"No problem at all. In fact, I think I should be apologizing to you. I'm trying to get these boxes moved around and I guess I've been having a bit of trouble keeping an eye out for shop traffic," said a voice with a slight southern drawl. "Here, let me help you up."

Taking the hand of the person, April looked up to see that the boy that was helping her up seemed like he'd be a good fit for being friends with Phil. He had hair that went down past his shoulder that April noticed was dyed with green and blue streaks and he was wearing a red muscle shirt from the promotion of some movie, a pair of black sweat pants, and a pair of black boots. Another distinguishing feature that April noticed was that the boy had his nails painted black. Blushing as she bent down to pick up the books she wanted to buy, April said "Thank you. And again, I'm so sorry I bumped into you. It just seems like I've been doing that a lot today."

"Well, that just sounds like a strange way to spend a day," the boy said, chuckling. "But then again, I once lost a bet and I had to wear the girl's uniform to school. Confused the teachers, but I had a lot of girls telling me that I've got nice legs."

Laughing a little as she rose up from collecting the books she picked out to buy, April said "That does sound like a pretty weird way to spend a day in school. By the way, my name's April."

"Pleasure to meet you, April. I'm Jeff, Jeff Hardy," Jeff said, holding out his hand which April took and shook.

"Hardy? Does that mean you're related to Alexis Hardy?" April asked.

"Indeed I am. And I know what you're thinking. 'But Alex is black and you're white, so how does that work?' Simple enough to explain. My dad adopted Alex when she was around five and ever since then, she's been a member of my family. And, strangely enough, she's a good fit with me and Matt," Jeff said smiling.

"I never knew that Alexis was adopted," April said.

"Most people don't at first until they ask either me or Matt. Up until then, most people just like to assume that Alex is a relative of ours, like a cousin," Jeff said, picking up the last box that was by the door.

"I just find that so amazing. It was really nice of your dad to adopt Alexis," April said as the two walked over to the check-out counter.

"Well, thank you. It's nice to hear that other people think so," Jeff said. Looking to see that they had reached the check-out counter, Jeff said "I believe this is where you were headed. Kaitlyn, dear sissy, if you'd be so kind as to ring up April here, that'd be great."

"Oh, shut up, Nero. Just take that box to the back so that we can unload it later," Kaitlyn said, laughing as she slapped Jeff on the shoulder as he walked past her. Looking back at April, Kaitlyn said "I swear, Jeff may be a teenager, but he acts _so _much like a child. So, I take it you were able to find everything you were looking for."

Nodding her head, April put the stack of graphic novels on the counter top as Kaitlyn decided to look at each cover.

"Hmm, looks like you're buying a lot, so let's see what you picked out," Kaitlyn said, as she scanned each book. "'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna', 'The Walking Dead: Days Gone By', the graphic novel adaptation of 'Dante's Inferno', volume one of 'Misfits', and 'Kick-Ass'. These choices aren't bad for someone who's a comic book virgin."

Blushing as she twisted a piece of her hair, April said "I was only going by how the covers looked and those were some of the main ones that kept leaping out at me."

"They really are great reads. Especially Kick-Ass. Most of the heroes in that are teens, so that makes it so awesome," Kaitlyn said, excitedly. "So, I take it that that's all you wanted today?"

Looking behind Kaitlyn, April pointed and said "Yeah. Uh, what's that behind you?"

Turning around to see what it was that April was pointing at, which was a pack of comic books where the first book had a picture of a Pikachu, Kaitlyn said "This? Oh, it's a package of the first four issues of the comics for Pokémon. Pretty cute stuff for kids and it's a great read if you like the games and the show."

"Why don't you go on ahead and add that to everything else?" April asked.

"Sure, no problem," Kaitlyn said, grabbing the pack and scanning the bar code. After totaling the price of what April wanted to buy, Kaitlyn said "And with that, your total comes up to $44.98."

Pulling out her wallet and taking out her money, April said "That's a pretty steep price for a few graphic novels."

"Sometimes you got to make sacrifices in order for quality reading material," Kaitlyn said. Looking down to see what April was giving her to pay for her books, Kaitlyn said "A $50 bill? Someone's got money at the ready."

Letting what Kaitlyn just said hang in the air, April proceeded to look around at the inside of the store again as she took her change and receipt. She didn't exactly know how to tell Kaitlyn that because of her parents' disposable income she had money to spend on whatever she wanted. Not really knowing what to say next, April instantly felt relieved when Phil came walking back to the counter.

"You would not believe what I just had to deal with over there," Phil said, putting his choices on the counter.

"I take it you had to deal with getting into an argument with some of the other guys over there," Kaitlyn said, ringing up Phil's buys.

"You could say that. I'd really rather not talk about it," Phil said. Looking over to April, Phil said "So, how did shopping solo go for you? Did you find anything you wanted?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," April said, holding up her bag.

Smiling, Phil said "Well, I guess this trip wasn't a total bust. I just have to pay for my books and then we can go." Turning back to Kaitlyn, who told him that his total was $32.58, Phil took out his own wallet and, giving Kaitlyn two $20's, took his change and receipt. The two then proceeded to leave all while Kaitlyn told them to come back again.

Once the two were out of the store, April asked "So what was it that you bought?"

"Nothing all that special. Just some issues of Batman that I needed," Phil said. "What'd you pick out?"

"Uhh, 'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna', 'Kick-Ass', 'Misfits', 'The Walking Dead: Days Gone By', 'Dante's Inferno', and a collection of the comic books for Pokémon," April said.

"Nice choices. I'm sure with comic books like that, inspiration will come to you in no time," Phil said, smiling.

As the two walked on in silence, all April could keep thinking about was the shop, the look on Phil's face as he walked around, one of the other students from her school she had met, the laidback attitudes of Alex and Kaitlyn, and her recent purchases. She couldn't wait to get home and read her graphic novels; she was sure they were going to be great.

**I think I did it justice with the choices of comics that April picked out (my AJ muse certainly approves). Now, before I go any further, one of the titles, Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna, I made it up off of the top of my head (mostly because I remember hearing in an interview that AJ had that one of her favorite video game series was Final Fantasy), so I decided to go with one of her first choices a graphic novel about Yuna's past. So, as usual, don't forget to R&R please. =)**


	8. Home Alone

April and Phil had just left Chrono Comics all while April kept looking in the bag of her newly and recently purchased graphic novels and comic books. April still couldn't believe that by spending an afternoon with Phil Brooks, she'd end up developing a slight addiction to reading comic books. She had been so distracted by constantly looking at what she bought that she hadn't even noticed that Phil wasn't walking by her side anymore. Looking back, April saw that he had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk looking at his phone.

Walking back, April asked "Phil, is everything okay?"

Looking up from his phone to see the concerned look on April's face, Phil said "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. What would make you ask that?"

"Well, I was walking and when I looked to my side, you weren't beside me anymore," April said.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to make you worry about me. It's just that I'm home by myself tonight and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do as far as dinner and sleeping goes," Phil said.

"Oh. Did you decide on what you were going to do?" April asked.

"I think I might just stay at my place by myself. My mom told me that I could go stay at my friend's house, but I think it'd be better to be there when she comes in from work," Phil said.

"What does your mom do as far as working goes?" April asked, curiosity coloring her voice.

"My mom works at the local hospital as an on-call nurse. She works a regular shift, but sometimes she'll have to go in and cover for one of her co-workers when her bosses call her in," Phil said. "It can suck at times, but I've gotten used to it as I've gotten older."

"That sounds about like how my mom and dad's jobs are. My mom's a lawyer and my dad's a surgeon, so I tend to have to deal with not really getting to see them much," April said, shrugging.

"Aww, that blows. Maybe you'll get to have some time to spend with your parents this weekend. After all, even the best lawyers and surgeons need a break from their jobs every now and then," Phil said, sympathetically. Looking ahead, Phil saw that they had almost reached the front gates of the school. "Well, I guess this is where we split off. My house is down the road over there."

"OK. Be careful headed home," April said.

"Don't worry. I will, and you do the same," Phil said. "And, I guess, maybe I'll see you in class or around school tomorrow."

"Sure," April said, as Phil walked off. Once Phil had headed off in the direction of his house, April sighed and headed for her own house. She was trying her best to hide it, but since she wasn't around Phil anymore, April let the disappointment that was building up inside of her surface on her face. Even though April had been having to deal with this since she was in middle school, she still hated the thought of going home only to sit around in solitude for the remainder of the day. While there was always the thought of going over to Josh's house, she had homework to do and decided it'd be best to go spend another quiet day at home. At least today, she'd get to kill time by reading the graphic novels and comic books that she bought; so, in a way, she was feeling great about going to spend a day at home alone.

…

Just as Phil unlocked his front door, his phone started to ring. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he saw that he had just gotten a text from Colt. Reading over it, Phil saw that it was more ribbing from Colt about him and April going shopping for comic books together. He almost deleted the text until he read the last sentence of it and saw that Amy was asking if he wanted to come over to their house to stay the night since his mom was working second shift. Phil sent back a reply saying that he was fine with staying at home but that Colt and Amy were more than welcome to stay the night with him. A few minutes later, Phil got a reply back from Colt saying that he and Amy had gotten permission from her mom and that they were going to be over to his house in a few minutes. Letting out a sigh, Phil proceeded to head upstairs to his bedroom where he tossed the bag containing his Batman comics onto his bed. He then walked over to get his backpack from beside his dresser and take it back downstairs. He figured that while he had the time to, he'd study over his notes for World History.

Settling into the couch in his living room, Phil opened his notebook and started looking over the beginning section of his notes on the Black Plague. He really hoped that somehow he'd be able to pass his classes and get closer to finally getting promoted to the tenth grade. He may have hid it well under all of his joking and goofing around, but Phil hated the fact that he was still in the ninth grade while Amy and his other friends his age were in the eleventh grade. It was something that was unknown to most of the student body aside from his friends, but there was a reason why Phil had been held back for two years.

He had been so deep into his studying and his own thoughts that he hadn't even heard the doorbell ring. Prying himself off of the couch, Phil went to open the door only to find Amy and Colt standing in his doorway.

"Hey, Phil," Amy said, smiling.

"Hey Amy, hey Colt," Phil said, dismissively.

Catching onto the tone of his best friend's voice, Colt said "OK, man. What's up?"

"Nothing, Colt. Why would you ask a question like that?" Phil asked, blinking in confusion.

"Because you don't sound all that thrilled about us being here and you've got tear streaks going down your face," Colt said.

Reaching up to touch his face, Phil wiped across his cheeks only to feel traces of tears. He was crying and he hadn't even been aware of it. "Huh, I guess I do. I can't begin to imagine why, but I think it was because I was thinking about what's been keeping me held back in school for the past two years," Phil said, trying to clean his face off some more.

"Phil, I thought you said you were going to try to forget about that. Your mom's fine now and you two don't have to worry about him anymore," Amy said, stepping forward and placing a hand on Phil's shoulder.

"I know, Amy, but I still think back to everything that happened in those two years and how powerless and weak I felt," Phil said. "It doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I think about how things got so out of control and how bad things got for me and my mom."

"That's why we had Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Williams, and Mr. James step in and take care of things when they did. Had you not told any of us, you'd probably be back where you were last year," Amy said.

"And I thank you and the others for doing that. It was such a huge relief that we got help when we did," Phil said, as fresh tears tried to fall from his eyes.

Grabbing Phil by the hand, Amy said "Come on, Phil. Let's go sit on the couch and find a movie on TV to watch. Movies are always a good way to try forgetting things."

As Colt grabbed the TV remote and proceeded to hop through the channels in search of a good movie to watch, Phil and Amy took seats on the couch next to Colt. Phil leaned back while Amy and Colt got into a bit of a debate about what to watch. He was grateful to have the friends that he had because they were some of the only people that really knew him for the person he was and not just for the reputation he had amongst the student body at school; also, because they were the people that helped pick him back up when he was at his weakest.

…

April had just finished the writing assignment that she had to work on for Mr. Cornette's class when she threw down her pencil in frustration. She wasn't so much feeling frustrated about the writing assignment; she was just feeling frustrated that she had to do Eve's as well as her own. Every time April felt like she was going to tell Eve off about the constant bullying she had to deal with from her, she would just chicken out and let it happen. One time, April had almost succeeded with telling Eve about how she really felt, but then Eve had to bring it back up about why it was in the first place that April was in the situation she was in. Just thinking about what led to her being in this predicament made April angry at herself.

Shaking her head, April thought 'No, I don't care what it is that Eve says. She hasn't done a thing to help me ever since that day. In fact, all she's done is take advantage of this whole deal between us.' Instead of spending the night thinking over something from her past, April decided to repack her backpack and head downstairs in the search of something to eat for her dinner. Before she headed downstairs, April looked in her bag of graphic novels and grabbed 'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna' so that she could begin to read that after she finished eating; then, after making space in one of the drawers of her dresser, April hid the bag and receipt under her clothes and pushed it back in. The last thing she wanted would be for her parents to come in and see that she had graphic novels that would, in their eyes, only serve as a distraction for her from her schoolwork.

Once she got downstairs, April headed for her living room first where she put the graphic novel on one of the couches and then headed for the kitchen in the hopes of trying to find something to eat. Walking into the kitchen, April went to the refrigerator and, opening the door, saw a Tupperware bowl that was filled with what looked like soup. As she took the bowl out, April saw that her parents had written 'April's dinner' on the lid in permanent marker. Taking the lid off of the bowl, April walked over to the microwave and, setting the time for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, turned on the appliance. While she waited for her dinner to heat up, April thought about her trip to Chrono Comics with Phil and what she saw while she was there. One thing that seemed to stick out to her the most was how chill things seemed, especially with the way Alex and Kaitlyn were running the shop. Just the thought of going to a shop every day and seeing employees like them working there had April giggling. She was soon snapped out of her thoughts by the beeping of the microwave. Pulling open the door to the microwave, April proceeded to shovel spoonful after spoonful of soup into her mouth. She was trying to hurry and finish eating so that she'd have more time to read her graphic novel before she went to sleep.

Once April ate as much as she could stomach, she put the remainder of the soup back in the refrigerator and headed back to the living room. As soon as she sat down on the couch where she left the book, April picked up and, getting comfortable, opened the book and launched into reading the first page.

…

Three Blade movies and one viewing of Batman Begins later, Phil had started to feel like himself again.

"Man, Colt. I can't believe you still made me and Ames sit through the first three Blade movies," Phil said, once their movie viewing marathon had ended.

"Hey! I needed a good vampire fix and the Blades were the only vampire movies that were on," Colt said, shrugging his shoulders.

"We could've at least put in my copies of Daybreakers and Dracula, Colt. Those two movies blow all of the Blades out of the water," Amy said.

"Well, maybe next time we can watch those movies, but since I had the remote, that put me in charge of the TV," Colt said, sticking his tongue out at Amy.

"Do that one more time and I'm putting you in a headlock," Amy said, turning to stare Colt in the eyes.

"Bring it on, Little Red Rocking Cargos!" Colt shouted, returning Amy's stare.

As the other two teens argued on, Phil laughed at how his friends were acting. Even though he had just been feeling a bit down in the dumps a few hours ago, he just knew that he could count on Amy and Colt to help him feel better. "I really don't think you two should be trying to fight in here," Phil said, around his laughs. "My mom wouldn't like it if she came in and saw the TV on the floor.

Breaking her stare-down with Colt, Amy said "Oh man, you're right, Phil. After all, I'd hate to do anything to piss of your mom, especially if she were to come home in the middle of the night only to see that a lot of her property was destroyed."

"Yeah, I guess maybe we shouldn't start fighting in here even though Amy started it," Colt said.

"Oh, _I _started it? Really, Colt?" Amy asked, the same tone she took earlier returning to her voice.

Shouting over the mayhem two of his closest friends were trying to start, Phil said "Guys! Breakable things in here! Property of my mom! Do those two things mean anything to you?!"

"Oh, sorry Phil. You're right, we probably should stop arguing in here," Amy said. Cutting a glare at Colt, Amy asked "Isn't that right, _Colt_?"

"I've got no problem with waiting. Just know that we shall pick this back up tomorrow when we're at home," Colt said, smirking.

"Trust me, little boy. It's going to be on like Donkey Kong tomorrow afternoon," Amy said, matching his smirk with a smirk of her own.

This went on for a few more minutes until Amy and Colt were able to stop their back-and-forth cycle of arguing. After they finally calmed down, Phil suggested that they try to find something to eat for dinner before they had to turn in. Not really wanting to cook anything, the three teens settled on popping bags of microwave popcorn and eating that while they drank some of the Pepsis that Phil had in his refrigerator. Once the popcorn was all gone, Phil stretched his arms out while Amy yawned and Colt fought to keep his eyes open.

"Phil, what time is it?" Amy asked, around a yawn.

Looking at his phone for the time, Phil said "It is now 12:35."

"12:35?! Damn it! We were supposed to be in bed hours ago," Amy said.

"Why don't you and Sleepy over there go upstairs and crash in my bed and the guest room? I'll take the couch down here," Phil suggested.

Rubbing her eyes, Amy said "You sure? I wouldn't want to rob you of your bed."

"Relax, Ames. It's no big deal," Phil said, waving off the redhead's concern. "Besides, my mom will coming in from work soon and I should probably be down here to help her in the house and up the stairs to her bed."

"OK, if you say so. Night, Phil," Amy said, hugging the teen as she proceeded to go help Colt up and to help him up the stairs.

"Night, Ames," Phil called after her. Once Amy and Colt were upstairs, Phil said and thought 'Well, here's to another sleepless night.' Not really wanting to take a chance with going to sleep at this hour, Phil walked over to his Xbox360. Making sure that the volume of the TV was turned down low enough so that he could still be able to hear, Phil turned on the game console and retrieved his copy of one of his favorite video games, Batman: Arkham Asylum. Taking the disc out of its case and placing it on the disc tray, Phil soon found himself deep in the depths of Arkham Asylum as Batman. All while he played, Phil couldn't help but to think back to his earlier trip to Chrono Comics with April and how much it seemed like April enjoyed herself. As he controlled Batman to punch at the prisoners that came his way, Phil thought 'April really seemed to enjoy herself today. Now all I have to do is wait for her to give me her decision on whether or not she'll enter the contest with me. I sure hope she says yes.'


End file.
